


Ghost

by TheFluffyPrince



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 09:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2305184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFluffyPrince/pseuds/TheFluffyPrince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was the absolute last thing Rei had expected to happen that night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Well apparently, I get joy in writing angst. This is based off of the post on tumblr about Rei not being saved in time. I wasn’t originally gonna write it, but Hakkari convinced me to do it. >u>
> 
> Edit: Okay, so this was written months ago, but I never uploaded it. And since I’ll probably never truly finish it (cause I have no idea what I was aiming for), I thought I’d just put this up as is. So if the ending is a bit abrupt, that’s why.
> 
> Pairing: ReiGisa
> 
> Warning: Character death, angst
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Free!/Swimming anime

The sound of screams and loud sobs woke Rei up. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and his face scrunched up for a moment before he slowly opened his eyes. At first, he couldn’t see anything save for white dots in his vision. A groan left his lips and he shut his eyes again, taking in a deep breath. The screams and sobs that he had heard upon waking up were still there, but much louder than before. And along with them, it sounded as though people were talking. Someone was talking, but what that person was saying was indistinguishable.

Opening his eyes again, the white dots from earlier were now gone. Now, he was staring up into a star-filled sky. Rei stared at the sky blankly for a moment, mentally naming some of the constellations that he recognized instantly. But he was cut off from doing that when he suddenly heard the scream that woke him out again, this time right by his ear.

Hissing loudly, Rei slapped a hand by his ear, which was throbbing slightly. Gritting his teeth, he looked over in the direction of the scream, about to scold the person for almost breaking his eardrum at the loudness when he froze in shock. His face then immediately paled and his breathing increased slightly.

Right in front of him, Nagisa was sobbing loudly, tears falling steadily down his face as he screamed and shouted loudly. A feeling of shock came to his body and he could do nothing but stare at the blonde boy. He had never seen Nagisa in such a state before. The boy was always so bubbly and happy, laughing and running around like some sort of menace. Here though, it was like he was looking at a completely different person. This Nagisa was completely broken, crying his eyes out. It was completely heartbreaking.

But what wasn’t what caused Rei to look at Nagisa like he had seen a ghost. No, what had caused him to nearly pass out in horror was the fact that Nagisa was holding onto what looked like his body.

His dead body.

* * *

 

Clutching onto his head, Rei took in several deep breaths. How could this have happened? He could have sworn that someone reached him before he passed out. He didn’t even remember drowning. It was highly possible that after passing out, he ended up drowning. But…surely it had not been that long. It was fully certain that CPR could have been performed on him to revive him…

Revive him…

Clenching his teeth together, Rei curled his fingers into his hair. He was actually…dead. He had died out in the ocean all because of his desire to get better quickly. He wasn’t used to lagging behind anyone before. He wasn’t used to dragging anybody behind because of his inability to do something. Rei had always been able to dissect something and learn how to perfect it very easily. That’s what he did with track, with his schoolwork, even with his basic living situation.

Swimming wasn’t like that. And he hated that fact.

But there wasn’t anything that he could do about that now. He didn’t have to worry about swimming, perfection, or even solving problems anymore. He was dead.

Although, he did applaud himself for being able to recognize the situation very early on. He supposed that seeing his dead body before his eyes did help a bit. He had read cases where sentient beings were not able to identify themselves as ghosts, living their lives as they would when they were alive. Rei couldn’t imagine himself doing that. To waste away in time forever, just “living” what he thought was his life…it felt like torture. Especially if those around him could not see him.

Sure, Rei had heard of instances where people see and hear ghosts around them. But quite honestly, he did not believe many of them. At least, not the ones that have claimed to see a peaceful ghost. There was no formula or calculation for revealing a peaceful ghost. So, he would be all alone in a world of many.

Much like he was right now.

* * *

 

It wasn’t smart to go back here. Returning to the place of his death would only cause him pain and suffering. It also wasn’t very healthy. He was dwelling in bad memories that were overflowing in his mind. But the just couldn’t help it. There seemed to be a part of him that was immensely curious about the area.

But it seemed as though he wasn’t the only curious one.

As Rei stopped walking – floating? - he noticed a familiar figure standing along the shoreline of the beach, looking out to the distance. Blinking his eyes for a moment, he drew in a harsh breath before pushing up his glasses on his face. He hadn’t expected to see anyone here, much less Nagisa. Out of everyone in the group, the blonde had appeared the move broken up about his…untimely death.

Not taking his eyes off of Nagisa, Rei slowly made his way forward. His heart clenched up in his chest the closer that he got to the younger male (although he did not technically have a heart, given the fact that he was a ghost). For a moment, he found his hand hovering in the air slightly, moving towards Nagisa’s shoulder. A feeling of shame came to him and he clenched his eyes shut for a moment. What was he thinking? Why was he reaching out for Nagisa when it was obvious what the result would be? His hand would go right through his body. He was a ghost, after all. Ghosts couldn’t touch real things.

However, that didn’t stop Rei from letting his hand continue hovering over Nagisa’s shoulder. He swallowed thickly, staring holes into the back of the blonde’s neck for a long time before slowly letting his hand fall down. If he was still alive, his fingertips would have brushed over the back of Nagisa’s neck. But as it was, he wasn’t, so they just went right through him.


End file.
